Blending Music Styles & Curating Thoughtful Events with Ky William | Elevated Frequencies #21

Ky William (00:06.254) I know, how you doing? I've seen your tweets and stuff all over and I've been following your podcast for a bit so it was cool that you reached out.

Olivia (00:13.94) I really appreciate that. It means a lot to me when artists actually know what the show is, because I created the show like for you guys. I want to give you a space to actually talk about shit that matters.

Ky William (00:27.082) No, definitely. I definitely like to voice my opinion too. I feel like everyone finds me through my Twitter lately, more than anything, which is cool, because it's like a platform where you can really give your voice, I think, anyway. And I think the algorithm is really good on there. It does a good job of feeding you to people that don't follow you, that care about the stuff you're talking about. So I think Twitter is great. I didn't use it until the past year. I didn't have one before this year. And then I was like, oh, let me just give it a shot.

Olivia (00:52.69) Yeah.

Yeah, it really helps you, like you said, find people who are interested in the stuff that you're talking about. It can be dangerous. I actually learned that last week when Lucati retweeted me and like my tweet turned into like a copy pasta thing. And I was like, I was like, God damn it, dude. Like I wasn't prepared for this, you know, but you gotta like, you put it out there and you got to expect that sometimes it can go that way and you can be getting blown up with notifications.

Ky William (01:00.512) Mm-hmm.

Ky William (01:06.261) Bye.

Ky William (01:10.461) Yeah.

Ky William (01:22.706) Yeah, people like to take small things and turn them into big things all the time. But you've got to like put your blinders on and just focus on what you're doing. And then I do a lot more. Just I just like tweet and then I get off and I try not to engage.

Olivia (01:27.313) Yeah.

Olivia (01:34.064) Yeah, it's so smart. It's, if you can actually stick to that and like have the discipline to not go into the comments and look at what people are saying, because people just wanna be heard and if you give them a reaction, like that's what they're looking for. So yeah, it's like, it takes discipline. But no, it's really cool because I love connecting with artists who actually put themselves out there, their personality other than their music. Obviously your music, your craft.

Ky William (01:49.198) Mm-hmm

Olivia (02:01.468) That's what we're here for. That's why we love you. But it's really cool to get a full picture of the artist and see the other things that they care about.

Ky William (02:03.598) Mm-hmm.

Ky William (02:10.194) Yeah, I think especially nowadays, I mean, I think this is pretty known. You can't just be an artist anymore. You have to wear every hat. So it's difficult though, because a lot of people who are producers and DJs, they're pretty like quiet, introverted people. It's producing very nerdy thing. Like there's a lot of buttons and a lot of technology and stuff like that. So I'm definitely a nerd at heart. Um, but I think a lot of people who fall into that are just, they are afraid to put themselves out there and it's not always something that.

the people in past generations had to do. So I think that's why we've seen a lot of artists, unfortunately, fall off a little bit because they don't want to adapt and they're very set in their ways, or they just don't want to put themselves out there. So, all of them.

Olivia (02:49.776) Yeah, it is a double edged sword because you have to do so much and you have to do like this dog and pony show to promote yourself, which I think is horrible. What I do like going back to Twitter and what TikTok is a little bit is you don't have to like put out some highly produced piece of content. Like you can just stay what's on your mind. And for the most part, that can take you pretty far. So I feel like it's one of those more low effort like platforms to be able to do that. But like you said, not every artist like

Ky William (02:57.582) Hmm.

Ky William (03:06.559) Uh-uh.

Olivia (03:19.188) People are private and they don't want necessarily to do that, which I respect too. I mean, it's valid.

Ky William (03:23.534) Mm-hmm. It is. Yeah, definitely.

Olivia (03:27.708) So I know when I reached out to you, you had tweeted that you were kind of going into like hibernation mode, that you were spending some time in the studio. That was almost like a month ago. So how's that been going?

Ky William (03:37.742) Mm-hmm really good. I kind of allowed me to like reset redial and like set new Goals and experiment a lot. I'm really big on experimenting and trying new things I'm not the kind of artist that wants to put out the same types of songs over and over again that works very well for some people but I Have this thing where I go through these phases so constantly where I just get bored very easily. So Being that I'm that kind of person it takes me a lot more hours in the studio to kind of come up with something that I think works for

for me and what I'm doing, because I can't just be putting out random music that makes no sense. Right now I'm really into breaks, so I've been making a bunch of breaks music and I think I finally came up with something after like four tries that actually works for my project, which is cool. So it's been really good in that regard and also just taking my foot off the gas and just going out and networking and just recharging my social battery. It gets to be a lot. I think everyone in the industry who kind of takes that next step to working it.

hits this point at one point or another where they're like, I'm so burnt out. I think everyone gets burnt out and I'm trying to be more conscious of that. So just putting myself in that where I live in myself to going out once a week now at max if at all. And yeah, just been a lot healthier now to getting to go to the gym because I'm not hung over or just super tired. I think the exhaustion gets to me more than any of it because now I'm almost 30 now and it's not like when I was 22.

21 years old and I could just go out for six days in a row and it wouldn't matter and I would be fine during the week but now I notice it started affecting me during the work week which isn't a good thing. So I'm just trying to get in front of that before it just becomes this train wreck.

Olivia (05:16.572) Yeah, that's that is.

pretty much one of the reasons why I started this show was to kind of workshop that with other people who are around my age, so I'm 31. And as a fan, obviously it's different, but it's like, how do you maintain the balance between putting in the work for you in the studio, for me, with my business, but then also enjoying your life? And obviously your work is late nights, you're out late, and then networking is also part of it. So there's definitely a give and take

Ky William (05:27.34) Mm-hmm.

Olivia (05:49.636) Um, I'm a big mocktail person now, like I'll do mocktails instead of drinking. Cause I feel like even after two drinks, even if I don't even get buzzed the next day, I'm like, my brain is just like a rotting garbage pail, you know?

Ky William (06:02.874) Mm-hmm. Yeah, I'll be like hung over after two beers And for no reason and I'm just like I'm like what was the point of that even you know? Yeah, it's just definitely be conscious of and I think it takes that burnout to kind of realize you need to do that so I think it's a good thing in a way that everyone experiences that because you can this industry so interesting because you could be like

Olivia (06:10.707) Yeah.

Ky William (06:27.69) A whole month can go by and you can be like, what did I just do this past month? I've just been out drinking, like staying up super late, like getting into antics I shouldn't be getting into. And you look back over the month and you're like, and now you feel terrible and you've burnt yourself out. But yeah, I think it's a good thing for everyone to experience. And then you can kind of read. Sadly, some people don't read a lot and you just keep it going. But

Olivia (06:47.524) Yeah, well then I feel like those people, they get to the point where they're just like relying on that to keep them going. Like if they stop, like that's when it's, and I'm not saying like, you know, to the point of like where you're alcoholism or whatever, but like they just, like that's kind of their fuel and they're like, I gotta keep going because if I stop, like it's gonna be bad. And yeah. And so.

Ky William (06:53.583) Howdy, buddy.

Ky William (06:59.81) Mm-hmm.

Ky William (07:05.474) Yeah, I think having a good circle around you, that people that can make you aware and hold you accountable has been very big for me. I'm very fortunate. I have a group of like six, seven super close people to me, and we all kind of hold each other accountable. We're all artists. We're all trying to do the same thing. So it's like, you know, we're making sure staying on top of each other. Are you producing music? Like, why are you going out so much? Why are you doing this? Like really like putting you on that.

Olivia (07:31.034) Yes.

Ky William (07:32.054) that hot seat in front of everyone and then you're like, oh fuck, I should be doing this. Yeah.

Olivia (07:35.848) That's so amazing to have. And it's nice when you have other friends who do what you do because they understand. Like, I think, you know, a lot of people don't necessarily like, like for me, I have my own business and I have a lot of friends who are extremely successful, but it's different than, it's different than me because like I have to keep.

business, doing business development to like get clients and like keep the flow and coming. So it's just like a different thing. And so sometimes I struggle and I'm not going to like waste my breath, like complaining to them because it's, it's not going to land. And so it's nice to have that group where like you all, you get it.

Ky William (08:12.419) Yeah.

Ky William (08:16.902) Mm-hmm. Yeah and further so like they're the reason why I've gotten so good at making music and just having those people that can push You and give you an honest answer I always tell so I teach a lot I do lessons all week long and I audio engineer for a bunch of people and The thing I always tell them is like get yourself a group of like you only need two people Like that's it and just really because that you can go to and give you the honest answer or not This sounds good. They really push yourself it

really transforms you into something that you could not be without that. So super thankful for them.

Olivia (08:48.312) Yeah, that's awesome. So what do you think, where is the line for you between, because sometimes I feel like one thing I really had to do when I started like working for myself was not ask for too much feedback, because when you get like a mix of opinions, even if it's from well-meaning people or people in your circle, like that can like.

put you in kind of like analysis paralysis. So where's, how do you do that gut check when you're like, maybe your friends are saying something, but you're like, I don't know. Like, I really want to stick to my guns on this one.

Ky William (09:21.49) Yeah, I always say take feedback with a grain of salt. And like, I think deep down in your gut, you really do know what's best for you. Everyone has different outlooks on things in life, outside of just music in general, but it's good to get feedback. And then I never like, I just like sit on the feedback for a minute. I don't like try to make my decision like right away. I'll try to give it like a day after what they said, and then sit, cause you know, you're pretty attached to your ideas when you're creating or whatever you're asking for feedback on. So,

you're gonna feel like internally defensive naturally because you've made that decision and you're like, oh, this is great. So I try to let the excitement die down and then go back to it. I'll use the example of making music. So when you make music, a couple of days go by and then you realize yourself without even getting feedback like, okay, maybe this wasn't correct. So when you can have them give you the feedback, set it in it for a night and then review what they said rather than trying to go right into it, I think.

Olivia (10:08.101) Yeah.

Ky William (10:16.258) helps me a lot kind of determine what they're correct on and what's not right for that situation.

Olivia (10:20.548) Yeah, that's such good life advice actually in general. So whenever I get an email, like whether it's a client or whatever that I don't agree with, I always give myself like an hour because what I've realized is that I will misread their email and think they're saying one thing, but they're actually saying another, but my anger, like immediate reaction is to be like, da, da. And so that's really good advice because it's like,

Ky William (10:34.901) Mm-hmm.

Olivia (10:48.936) Just take some breathers because, you know, and especially looking at something with fresh eyes is so important with creative work, because you're so in it and you might not realize, like you said, certain mistakes until the next day.

Ky William (10:54.85) Mm-hmm.

Ky William (11:01.386) Right. Yeah, absolutely. It took me a while to realize because like there was a point where I was like getting in fights with my friends I'm like, what am I doing? Like they're just trying to help, you know, there's no reason to be to be a dick. So Just taking it and saying thank you. Um This is this is an interesting one too because it's like I have I have students or just people Will mess I get a bunch of messages every day people ask me to like look at their records And i'll never forget this one time. I looked at this one kid

Olivia (11:10.62) Yeah.

Yes.

Ky William (11:27.794) And I gave him like a nice big paragraph on feedback. And he's just like, you're wrong. And I was like, you just came in here and you messaged me. I don't even know who you are. And you just basically came for like self-validation. It's just, it's not a good look either. I don't mind. I love giving feedback. It's cool. People can send me music and I'll try to get to as many as I can. But yeah, it's just like, you don't need to argue that. It's kind of rude, number one. And two, it's just like what like all you're doing is seeking validation that.

Olivia (11:53.502) See you on.

Ky William (11:57.55) for what you were looking for anyway. And if you don't agree with it, then it's fine. Just don't be a dick about it.

Olivia (11:59.284) Totally.

Olivia (12:03.644) think, I think some people never grow out of it, but it also does come with age. Like you get more you as you grow up a little bit, you become more open to receiving feedback and not, you know, responding so defensively right away. But yeah, it's like why, why is someone like that wasting your time coming in your inbox? It's not like you sought them out. And then they're gonna, you know, yeah, some people just, they won't get very far with that. Like I, I saw this. I don't know if it was a video or something, but

Ky William (12:08.502) here.

Ky William (12:17.386) Yeah.

Ky William (12:22.975) Right.

Olivia (12:32.656) It was like, look at everything. It was a book I was reading. It was like, look at everything with a beginner's mind. And I love that sentiment because it keeps you curious. So I feel like it's like that old, like wise, like the more you think, you know, the less you actually know. Um, being curious and open is like such a good trait to have and will make you successful always.

Ky William (12:38.221) Mm-hmm.

Ky William (12:42.167) Yes.

Ky William (12:48.291) Mm-hmm.

Ky William (12:56.574) Yeah, I love that quote. I've heard that before.

Olivia (12:59.224) Yeah. So you were saying, I want to go back before I forget, you were saying that all of your music is kind of different. And I've, and I've noticed that in your tracks as well. Is there something that is a through line for you that kind of helps tie like your story together, whether it's a certain like element, um, production element or just a vibe, or is it truly just like, no, like I am exploring all my different personalities.

Ky William (13:23.602) Yeah, I think this is like the hardest thing to master. Um, and it's not really something I think about. I think it's something that just kind of comes with my workflow and the way I work, I make my tracks or like the way I produce them is the same every single time. Like I don't like, and it's not even on purpose. It's just something I just do. So the, what I'll do is I'll start with my, always start with my drums. So I'll get a kick drum, make my drums, and then I will find an acapella that I want to use based the whole track around on.

And then just build from there and you go baseline and then since and that that's my process but I think I reuse a lot of the same drum samples and Like you'll hear my tracks I actually have like the same exact top loops in one track that I do another like it's verbatim Nothing has changed So I think reusing certain sounds in your music helps keep that consistency and sound but I think furthermore it's just trial and error and I have

Olivia (14:15.816) Yes.

Olivia (14:20.38) Mm-hmm.

Ky William (14:21.406) made over like, I've been producing for four years now. I think I have on sound, I checked my sound cloud, it was like 840 songs in the past four years. Yeah, I mean, they're not all, a lot of them are, some of them are just ideas obviously, but like, it's just that trial and error. And like I said, right now I'm running into breaks and I think I finally came up with something that really works for that for me. But that took four tries, you know? I've had tracks where it's taken me a hundred tries to get one sound right, like one type of song correct. So.

Olivia (14:28.382) Whoa.

Ky William (14:51.19) I think just that trial and error. And never putting too much pressure on yourself too, because I think when you go in with the minds, because what I was doing at first, I was going with the mindset of, I wanna be a different artist, I don't wanna be like anybody else, and this is me, and really trying to force it. I'm like, I'm gonna make this, this day and that, that day. And I think it's more so just going with what flows out naturally and not pigeonholing yourself. So a lot of my inspiration comes from me listening to other music. So I found this incredible artist named Bakey.

not too long ago, and he's like really into this break sound. I've been really feeling it. So I'm like, let me just sit down and make this because it's what I'm into right now. And I watched a couple of tutorials on how to make that kind of type of music. And then I took what I liked from that and put it in with what I already know and kind of mesh the two. So hopefully that answers your question.

Olivia (15:35.816) Mm-hmm.

Olivia (15:39.972) It does. I think it's really important for, you know, all artists to hear that and creatives in general, because conventional wisdom, like no matter what creative industry you're talking about is like pick a niche, pick a niche. You're never going to grow unless you pick a niche. And I fucking hate that advice. I am a niche-less rebel. Like I cannot, like I have too many interests and, you know, same goes for artists, like.

Ky William (15:55.841) Yeah.

Ky William (15:59.094) Yeah, me too.

Ky William (16:03.754) Mm-hmm.

Olivia (16:07.248) Yes, if you really love to go deep into one sound, absolutely, if that's you, do you. But don't, like you said, pigeonhole yourself because you feel like that's something you have to do. And I can't wait until we like break out of this hole. Like what I always say, my niche, my through line is like my authenticity and transparency about the topics that I talk about. Like I really have like no shame in talking about, like if I'm...

Ky William (16:11.276) Yeah.

Olivia (16:35.036) Like my audience is on TikTok and I talk to like girls about like Botox or whatever. Like I'm not gonna like hide who I am, but my authenticity about it is my through line. I'm not just picking one niche. And so for artists who want to experiment but are afraid that'll like derail them, I think they really do need to hear that, especially when they have well-meaning management who's like, no, like you, or a label is like, you need to just do this. I think that that's so hurtful to a career.

Ky William (16:44.258) Right.

Ky William (16:56.791) Right.

Ky William (17:01.582) Yeah, I'm very fortunate. I have a great manager. He's super behind me just doing whatever I want. And then he'll never stop. So here's what we do. So he'll never stop me from making something because that's just not like, that's just not cool in general. But he he'll I'll make what I make, I'll send it to him. He'll be like, this is cool. And then we'll basically have these sessions, like every two, three weeks, where we'll look at all the music I made and say, okay, I think this makes the most sense. This makes the most sense. We should release this at this time of the year, right after this one. So it kind of tells us the story.

Olivia (17:12.115) Mm-hmm.

Ky William (17:30.67) Because I do think there is still a line where it's like, you don't want to go, I'm not going to go put out a dubstep track. That doesn't make sense. Exactly. But I think fortunately enough, like, it's just weird to say, like everyone's attention span is so short now. So I think there actually is, I think this is the time to experiment and kind of get out of your box because people are just so like, they just want new and fresh all the time, right? So I think you can actually capitalize on this pretty well.

Olivia (17:37.848) Yeah, there's strategy. You need a strategy. Yeah.

Olivia (17:56.954) Hmm.

Ky William (18:00.358) at this point in time. And I think, yeah, I think everyone's just more receptive to it, I think people kind of don't really get bored when I'm doing my sets anymore because I used to be that kind of artist who would just play very just straight line, which is fine, and like I said, that's cool if you wanna do that, but I've noticed a change in energy in the crowd now that I've, you know, I'll start with deep stuff, get a little techie, go into a little bit of garage, and then go back to tech, and then...

maybe a little bit more heavier techno stuff and it's really well received. And I think people, yeah, people can dance for longer, I think. Um, and don't get me wrong, I've been to some incredible, like eight hour sets of the same style of music and it's just been like amazing. And that's a craft of its own. But I think typically across the board in general, I think you can captivate, um, obviously a much wider audience and, and kind of hold people's attention for a little bit longer. I've found anyway for me.

Olivia (18:32.776) That's, yeah.

Olivia (18:55.004) That's a really good point that I have not thought about because we always talk about how like society is being ruined by like TikTok videos, you know, in our short attention span. But what you're saying is, hey, I mean, if you can't beat them, join them. And it's good for the creative process. And I agree, I love both of those types of sets. It just really depends. If someone's doing it well, then it doesn't matter if it's all one type or, you know, a little bit of musical ADHD. That brings up the other thing I wanted to talk to you about.

Ky William (19:04.305) Mm-hmm.

Exactly.

Olivia (19:24.68) your tweet about plug and play parties. Before I say anything, I wanna know like what you meant by that.

Ky William (19:27.566) Mm-hmm.

Ky William (19:32.19) Yeah, so I feel like it's so, it's kind of sad, but I haven't, maybe I haven't been looking out hard enough myself because I've been so laser focused on work, but I feel like every time I've been to an event in the past like six months, not necessarily the parties I've been playing, but just I'm saying in general, it's just, I walk in and I'm like, I've been to this before a million times. It's just DJ front and center, some fog and some lights, and it's just rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat. It's like usual suspects on every lineup.

We live in a time where anyone can make music and that comes with so much great talent and it's like why are there not these new artists here? Why is this in the same venue? Why is the decoration, there's no decorations ever? It kind of like, it feels very corporate and I think that is part of the issue is like everyone is just like realizes how much money there is in this now, which is great because that's more opportunity for everyone to play and there's more parties but with that comes people, you know, once they figure out the formula we'll call it like

they feel like they can just rinse and repeat it rather than trying to make it different each time. So something I'm doing next year is I'm starting events for my label, which I'm really stoked on. So I'm gonna try to get really into like the decorations and the vibe and the theme and try to, we'll do parties at places that typically do parties, but eventually my goal is to be at a point where like I have the leverage and influence to do events at non-traditional places where people will come to just because they know that it's gonna be a cool vibe, so.

I'm really excited for that next year.

Olivia (21:01.552) I will be there when you start doing that. That's so cool. And like, okay, so I love everything you just said, because at the end of the day, it's all about the music and the quality. And there's a lot of like discourse going on right now about all the extra visual elements and how it's, some people say it's like detracting. Like I'm talking like the graphics, whatever. Yes, which I love too. It's a different thing. And I agree. So I'm more of a...

Ky William (21:20.636) Like Tale of Us, like stuff like that. Right. Mm-hmm. So, I'm going to go ahead and turn this off.

Olivia (21:28.476) Like I like festivals, but I'm not necessarily there for like all of like the big crazy stages, but what you're talking about the decorations and decorations don't have to be thousands of dollars to be effective. It's just a little bit of thoughtfulness put in the theme, um, non-traditional venues, they're starting to be a little bit more of that in Chicago. Like there's one group that they're, they did it for the first time last year. Um, had DJs, like it was like a house music event for Halloween at a train station. And so

Ky William (21:38.485) No.

Ky William (21:42.648) Right.

Ky William (21:57.911) Yeah, that's what I'm talking about.

Olivia (21:59.256) Yes, it was like, it's called Nightmare Express and like stuff like that, that just gives you a little bit extra. And it's like, there's like activations to it. It's not just, you know, and it, I just agree. And I think that experimenting with even times that you have these parties, you know, like I love a good day party where I can be in bed by midnight, you know.

Ky William (22:05.759) Yeah.

Ky William (22:21.354) Yeah, absolutely. Totally. I agree with all of that. Yeah, and it's never, I wasn't even, yeah, the point of the like the Tale of Us visuals, which is its own thing and its own art, which is really cool. But you can make such a cool vibe by just changing, like just the light, the way the lights are set up, like having like, instead of having like lights down on the DJ, have uplating on the side, or have like a couple string lights running across, or just getting some foliage or some vines or.

Olivia (22:45.268) Yes, as I was saying, like put some plants in there, like it'll completely change everything. It's like it's like little tweaks. And it just and there's obviously a way to do it where it's not like corny but like just make it so much more interesting. I also would really like to see and this is like, like a selfish personal reason but I would love to see you know, I get why clubs like, like all of like the popular clubs they don't they give you like vodka soda or beer or shot like that's what you get. I would love to see more like cocktails or just other things like

Ky William (22:49.19) Exactly. Yeah.

Ky William (22:55.606) Right.

Olivia (23:14.7) loungy vibes, like I love a good lounge where you can pay to sit, but it's not necessarily like bottles, it's something else. Like I would just really love to see more of that.

Ky William (23:25.682) Yeah, it's cool. Just thoughtfulness is all.

Olivia (23:27.696) Yeah. So I was, I love that tweet cause I don't think we talk about that enough. And so you said you want to do that with your label and I, I want to talk to you about like the ethos behind your label and why you started it because every artist that I interviewed that has one, it's always a different reason, which I think is really cool.

Ky William (23:37.283) Mm-hmm.

Ky William (23:48.434) Yeah, so the story of my label is really interesting. So my label, Anhara, was already founded before me. It was with someone named Ramsey Neville, who is no longer with the label. He's focusing on the techno stuff, doing really good with that right now. So he had a label. He did one free download, and he was just kind of sitting around, and we had shared the same manager at the time, and it was this guy, Andrew Minkovits, and he connected us. We got along really well. We made some music together, and I was like, are you doing anything with the labels? He's like, no, I don't really know.

how to run a label, it kind of just a SoundCloud page. And I was like, I don't know either, but I just want to put my music out. And I didn't even, I was so new to this. I didn't even know about the process of setting. I didn't even know you're supposed to send demos to other labels. Like I was that new. I'd only been producing for like a couple of months. And I just wanted to get my music out into the world. And I knew it should have, I always knew it should have been done under a brand, but I didn't know anything about it. I was like, let's just do it together. So we joined forces and then.

It was kind of just a spot for us originally at first. And then all my friends were saying, oh, that's really cool. You started a label. And I was like, yeah, do you want to release music on it? I didn't even hear what they were working on. I was like, yeah, let's put out a track for you in a month. And it just started snowballing into this pretty serious thing now. We sell quite a lot of records. We stream. We have records with hundreds of thousands of streams on the label. One's coming up on a million now. And it's been really cool to watch because it just started so organically. And so like.

I guess innocently, and it's been really cool to watch this progression. And the type of people who wanna work with us now are just like artists that I like adore and I love. And it's super cool. And it's cool as we're getting demos from artists who aren't typically in the style of my music, which I love, because I always like to resonate this energy, which is like, I just wanna put out good music. I don't really care what it is, as long as I'll play it in my sets, then it'll get released. But yeah, so that was kind of like the story behind it.

And I love just helping people in general. That's always been something I liked doing, like volunteer work growing up. And I feel like this is like the one thing I can do where I can kind of push someone in the right direction and be like a stepping stone for someone's career to help them like for upward trajectory. So that's something I really, really enjoy about the label.

Olivia (26:04.136) That's so cool. The best things start organically when you don't necessarily have like, obviously it's good to have goals in mind and like track those goals, but it's just, I don't know. It ends up being a more beautiful thing when you kind of just approach it with an open mind and allow it to blossom into something.

Ky William (26:08.024) Mm-hmm.

Ky William (26:24.586) Yeah, it's super authentic. It's definitely something you really have to want to do also because I found when like, okay, so for example, I like, obviously I know TikTok is like huge in it. I tried to make some of those videos and I'm like watching it back and I'm like, no, this is not me. Like, there's no point to it. So like what I found is I just kind of dialed into what I'm really good at. And for me, that's the label, that's teaching. I'm very big on education. I do workshops and all that stuff. And I like motivating too.

A lot of times when I tweet, I try to like, it's funny, some of my friends will bust my balls and be like, you sound like Gandhi. And I was like, yeah, I'm just trying to like, motivate people, but it means in good humor. But yeah, I just like kind of dial into what's natural to me. Cause I feel like things become corny when you're doing things that are not you. And it's very easy to see that. So for me, I don't even think about this type of stuff. Like even teaching came very like organically to me. I had, I was just like, people just send me tracks.

and I would just give them all this feedback and I'm like, I really like this. And then one day I was like, I had a bunch of time for that week. I was like, I'll do a couple of lessons and I got some students and then those went really well and I'm like, I really like this. So then I kind of got into this rigorous routine and ended up working with West End for a little bit in his discord, doing as like one of the teachers in there and now shifted back to just one-on-one private lessons. And yeah.

that came very organically to me. It's never something where I woke up, I was like, I'm gonna be a production teacher one day. It just kinda happened. And same thing with the DJing too, it's always something that's been around in my life. So I started DJing when I was 12, I'm 29 now. My friend's dad had this like corporate DJ company, did weddings in Bar Mitzvah. So I'd go with him and I would always jump on and like, you know, play a couple of tracks with like when he would have to go do something outside and he would come back and like he would take back over

I asked him one day, I was like, oh, like, where do you buy stuff like this? And then he gifted me like a little DJ controller when I was like two years later and then played on that for a while. And then eventually went to college, started doing the frat party, just cause I knew how to do it. And then from there, someone asked you like, oh yeah, do you want to like play in like a club? And I was like, yeah, it'd be sweet. Why not? So I got a residency in Atlantic city in New Jersey. And then that turned into a residency back in Hoboken, New Jersey after I graduated.

Ky William (28:46.166) And then that turned into meeting somebody else who did the music. And then just kind of my whole life is just super organic. I've, I've never really like tried to force anything. Um, which was the overarching point of that tangent. I just went on there.

Olivia (28:59.212) Yeah, that's awesome. And I think a really cool thing about teaching and mentorship is it continues or it pushes you to continue to learn more. And you literally in teaching others, you find lessons for yourself. So just, you know, and it keeps you like grounded and like connected to what the scene or whatever your niche is really about.

Ky William (29:13.383) Oh yeah.

Ky William (29:17.346) Hmm.

Ky William (29:22.722) Absolutely. Yeah, I've been slowing down the teaching a little bit because I'm I just signed to an agency now So I'm just I'm gonna probably be playing a bunch of shows coming up here soon So I just want to make sure I'm stacked on music so I don't have to be stressed out while I'm touring and I could just focus on that and just had no I have like 25 like releasable records in my back pocket That I can just whip out whenever I need to

Olivia (29:38.132) for sure.

Olivia (29:46.32) Yeah, that's awesome. Well, I always like to like end the conversation with some actionable advice for people, which you've given plenty of in this conversation. But is there anything that you can say to maybe an artist that's like struggling right now, given everything we've talked about, the perils of having to market yourself, what would you tell that person?

Ky William (30:08.75) Mm-hmm

Stop taking it so seriously and have fun. I feel like everyone forgets why they get into this in the first place. So if you're feeling like that, just take some time off. Give yourself like a week off. Go do the other things that are so amazing in life, like reconnecting with whatever that is, other hobbies. Go to a couple of shows, get some inspiration and try again next week. Yeah.

Olivia (30:32.924) Love it, love it. Well, this has been such a great conversation. I appreciate you so much.

Ky William (30:38.954) Yeah, thank you for having me. That was great.